Contents

Mongolia
is
a landlocked sovereign state in East Asia. Its area is roughly
equivalent with the historical territory of Outer Mongolia, and that
term is sometimes used to refer to the current state. It is bordered by
China to the south and Russia to the north. Mongolia is the 18th
largest and the most sparsely populated fully sovereign country in the
world, with a population of around 3 million people. It is also the
world's second-largest landlocked country. The country contains very
little arable land, as much of its area is covered by grassy steppe,
with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south.
Sea turtle and mollusk fossils have been found in the Gobi apart from the
more well-known dinosaur
fossils. Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city, is
home to about 45% of the
country's population.
The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis KHAAN
they established a huge Eurasian empire through conquest. After his
death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but
these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired
to their original steppe homelands and in the late 17th century came
under Chinese rule. Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet
backing and a communist regime was installed in 1924. After the
anti-Communist revolutions of 1989, Mongolia conducted its own peaceful
democratic revolution in early 1990. This led to a multi-party system,
a new constitution of 1992, and transition to a market economy.
The official language of Mongolia is Mongolian, and is spoken by 95% of
the population. Today, Mongolian is written using the
Cyrillic alphabet, although in the past it was written using the
Mongolian script. Russian is the most frequently spoken
foreign language in Mongolia, followed by English. [R1]

The first stamps used in
Mongolia were those of Russia from 1858 who
operated a number of post offices in the country. The first
stamps of Mongolia were issued in August 1924., but still has Cyrillic
text on it. [R2]

Official
stamps of
Mongolia related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and other prehistoric
animals

Notes:

[1] Fossilized skull
of
Tarbosaurus shown on margin of one of mini-sheets

[2] In
February 2006
Post Authority of Mongolia issued a set of 12 stamps "50 years of
EUROPA stamps" shown various sightseeing of the country. Stamps issued
in several formats: Mini Sheet with all 12 stamps, 12 Mini
Sheets 12 stamps each with the same stamps, 6 Blocks of 2 stamps each,
boths perforated and imperforated. One of the stamps shows
fossilized skeleton of Tarbosaurus battaar -the most famous dinosaur of
Mongolia.
Tarbosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that
flourished in Asia about 70 million years ago, at the end of the Late
Cretaceous Period. Fossils have been recovered in Mongolia, with more
fragmentary remains found further afield in parts of China.
Although many species have been named, modern paleontologists recognize
only one, Tarbosaurus bataar, as valid. Some experts see this
species as an Asian representative of the North American genus
Tyrannosaurus; this would make the genus Tarbosaurus redundant.
Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus, if not synonymous, are considered to be
at least closely related genera. Alioramus, also from Mongolia, is
thought by some authorities to be the closest relative of Tarbosaurus.

[3] Charles Darwin shown on one of
the stamps.
[4] In
October 2000 Post Authority of Mongolia issued a mini sheet
with 17 stamp with a subject "Millennium of
Exploration".
Even on the fist look it is possible to identify some oddities there:
some
stamps, especially on the bottom side have different design and are
more colorful than most of the stamps on the upper side of the sheet.
Another
strange stuff is the text on the left side of the sheet - all about
Charles Darwin: his life, voyage on HMS Beagle around the world his
explorations, theory of evolution, but many stamps have nothing to do
with Darwin.
Skull
of theropod dinosaur, perhaps Tarbosaurus
bataar, most famous dinosaur of Mongolia, shown on the
first stamp
in the second row. Only few Dinosaur species were known at
Charles Darwin time. Fossils of Tarbosaurus are discovered in 1946, 64
years after Charles Darwin's death. Przewalski's hors,
ram,
duck, turkey and marbled are inhabitants in Mongolia, but have nothing
to do with Darwin too.

Initially, different set of stamps are planed for the issue
(see image in
the middle) - all about Charles Darwin's life, every stamp
correspondent to a paragraph on the left side of the sheet when all
stamp are designed in the same style. For some reasons 7 out of 17
stamps are replaced on the last moment to stamps that have nothing to
do with Darwin but represent modern and prehistoric fauna of Mongolia.
Only
few original mini sheets are survived, perhaps it is a part of small
production uses for stamps and design confirmation. These stamps are
extremely rare and not listed in stamps catalogs.Many thanks to my friend
Peter Brandhuber for information about this issue and his
article (on German) about the sheet.

Other
stamps to consider

Notes:

[A1] In December 1980 Mongolia issued
set of 8 stamps and a block of "Antarctic
Animals and Explorarition".
The round stamp in the block is dedicated to continental
drift and shows world
map at Carboniferous period.
The Carboniferous Period lasted from about 359.2 to 299 million years
ago during the late Paleozoic Era. The term "Carboniferous" comes from
England, in reference to the rich deposits of coal that occur there.
These deposits of coal occur throughout northern Europe, Asia, and
midwestern and eastern North America.
A
major marine and
terrestrial extinction event occurred in the middle of the period,
caused by climate change.The later half of the period experienced
glaciations, low sea level, and mountain building as the continents
collided to form Pangaea. The Carboniferous was a time of active
mountain-building, as the supercontinent Pangaea came together. The
southern continents remained tied together in the supercontinent
Gondwana, which collided with North America–Europe (Laurussia) along
the present line of eastern North America.